She had been gone for about 30 minutes, which was far too long to be in the woods. Especially, if it was beginning to become dark and once it gets dark, then who knows what strange beasts would lurk around the vicinity.

I wandered through the area while scoping my surroundings, passing by every tree, and stump, and rock in search of the elf girl, calling out her name while making sure that I wasn’t too far from the campground.

Dammit! Where the hell is she?! It’s getting late and I’m starting to get worried! The frustration was starting to get to my head. I stopped in my tracks and let out a heavy groan while crushing the bridge between my eyes.

Grimhilda said that she needed time to cool off, but what if me lying actually affected Keya in such a tremendous way that she was so disgusted by me that she ran away? Suddenly, I saw a figure sitting on a stump about 10 feet away from where I was. I gingerly got closer and finally felt relief.

“Keya?”

She was sitting cross-legged on a stump with her hands on her knees and her staff on her lap. She was in some sort of meditative trance, hearing her breathe in and out every few seconds. She seemed calm. Unfortunately, the scowl plastered on her face said otherwise.

I waved my hand in front of her eyes. I asked in a soft tone, “Hey, Keya. Are you okay?”

“Go away, Akio!” she hissed through gritted teeth. Venom seethed from her words.

I took a step back and let out a sigh. I bit the lower part of my lip as I rubbed my other arm in an anxious manner. I apologized with sincerity in my voice, “Keya, I know you’re still mad at me for lying and deceiving you. I want to apologize for that and want to become completely honest with you, for now on. The only problem is…if you are willing to forgive me?”

Her eyes finally flew open, yet her glare didn’t fade. She got up off the stump and stood with her arms crossed and lightly shook her head. “Akio, you have lied to me since the day we’ve met and I’m not sure if I can forgive you, or trust you. I have always hated people lying to me, especially when it’s from people I once considered a friend.” Her scolding was very passive-aggressive, but it was enough to make me feel even guiltier than before. She continued, “Ever since I had left my country, I thought that people out here would be different from all the bald-face aristocrats within the kingdom, but I can see that even the outside world is just as worst.”

I explained, “Keya, I wanted to tell you, but…”

“…But what?” she repeated. Her tone became demanding as she interrupted.

“I was just scared of losing you. You’re the first friend I had made in this world and if I told you the truth, then you would think I was crazy,” I stated. My voice was very honest and I could see Keya softening with her scowl fading away.

I with a frown on my face, I turned around and began walking away. I stated, “I get the jest of it. I’ll get out of your hair, and make sure you’ll never see me again.”

“No wait!”

I halted. I felt something clasp against my right hand. I turned my head to see Keya staring at me with the most earnest expression as her cheeks turned red. Letting go of my hand, she wrapped her arms around my waists and held on tightly. My face flushed from feeling how warm she was.

She smiled while moving a strand of hair from her face. She assured, “You can stop feeling bad about yourself. I forgave you for lying to me a few minutes ago.”

“Then why did you look like your were about to rip my head off?”

“I wanted to make you work for it. I mean, at first, I was mad at you lying to me, but then after everything we went through, I could tell that you truly were a good man and that you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, or anyone else. Also, now that I think about, hearing that you came from another word would make you sound crazy.” The way she giggled at the end of the sentence made her sound so cute.

“That’s what Grimhilda said,” I commented.

Shrugging her shoulders, she smirked and replied, “Well, I hate to admit it. She is pretty insightful when she isn’t so hotheaded.”

We both laughed at that remark. If this was an anime, I could picture Grimhilda sneezing at the same time as saying that statement.

“Still, I can’t believe you’re the messiah!” Keya screamed ecstatically. She was like a fangirl after meeting her idol.

Scratching my left cheek, I chuckled as a droplet of sweat formed on my temple. I said in a nervous tone, “yeah, it’s a surprise to me, as well.” then I asked, “By the way, what is this whole ‘messiah’ thing?” In jewish tradition, a messiah was the Israelite concept of an epic hero while, in Christian tradition, it was the name for Jesus Christ after being declared king of kings, but in Asura, I doubt it had the same meaning.

Keya’s eyes rose from my question, but she brushed it off with a smile. She answered while still maintaining her cheerful tone, “The messiah is a hero of all heroes, chosen to save this world from the oncoming storm! When the Dark Lord, or the Demon King, begins to terrorize the world, the Messiah comes to save all from desolation!” Well, I guess there were some similarities.

Wait! Did she just say “Demon King”! My face turned to stone in trepidations. Usually, there would be a demon king in certain fantasy stories and anime, but I’d never expected one to exist in this world.

“S-so, who decides who gets to be the messiah?” I asked.

“Well, it’s mostly the Human Coalition who decides who would become the new Messiah since they are the most powerful to summon a candidate to take up the mantle. However, in the beginning, there were other kingdoms that would summon heroes. However, that came to an end thousands of years ago when the first messiah established the Coalition. Since then, every nation on Gaia agreed that all summonings will be performed by the HC, but only if a great threat arises.”

That was a lot to take in. everything Keya explained was like that light novel I read. Hopefully, I won’t be falsely accused by a horrific crime and I turn into some sort of dark hero who seeks vengeance on those who had done him wrong. Suddenly, Keya and I realized how late it was.

We proceeded back to camp. Keya and I were flabbergasted from what was before us. Surrounding the vicinity were tents made of animal skin and held up by sticks. In the center was a bonfire with three logs around it. Lastly, hovering above the fire was a spit roast and hanging from the metal rod looked like a large skinned bird, cooked and ready to be eaten.

Our mouths nearly dropped to the ground, but we quickly snapped out of our daze when Grimhilda approached us.

“There you two are! Do you have any idea how hard it was to set everything up while you two were off settling your lover’s quarrel!” Grimhilda admonished.

My face turned red as I exclaimed, “We’re not lovers, Hilda!” even Keya’s face became redder than before.

Grimhilda chuckled. She waved a hand and remarked, “Lighten up! I’m just messing with you two!”

Keya and I didn’t even respond. We just stared at the dwarf girl with a deadpanned expression.

“By the way, Grimhilda. Where’s Leni?” I asked.

“Oh, she’s in the middle tent.” Hilda pointed her thumb behind her.

Stepping out of one of the tents, Leni proceeded to the bonfire as she stood before us.

“I see you two have returned. Have you two finally made amends?” she inquired in a friendly tone.

“We have. So, what now?” I asked.

“Now, we rest and, in the morning, we’ll head to the Council’s headquarters. Anyway, let’s dig in!”

Sitting around the bonfire, we began taking chunks of the bird’s meat. Leni was the first to take one of the legs, which angered Grimhilda dearly. Apparently, it is customary for the one who prepared the meal first to have the first bite, according to Dwarf culture. The only one not enjoying anything was Keya who scooted far from sitting circle to get away from the smell. Once we finished, we went straight to bed. Keya and Leni slept in the tent on the right, Grimhilda was in the middle, and I slept on the left.

The next day, we’ all traveled up north through the forests, passing by every moss-covered rock and oddly shaped tree that was in our path. It took us 12 hours and 3 miles to reach our destination, and we only stopped twice to catch our breath. Finally, standing on top of a cliff, we arrived out of destination.

“Here we are! The city of Arcadia!”

Standing before us was a city that was made entirely of silver, having the sunlight shining against the walls, so intense that it was almost blinding. However, most of the buildings were in ruins with holes on the sides of the skyscrapers and much of nature taking back the land.

I was baffled. I assumed that the Council was located in some busybody city, but that city looked like no one had lived in it for a very long time. I looked over and saw that Grimhilda had the same expression as I did. Keya, however, looked like her head was about to explode.

She gasped and turned towards Leni. She shouted, “Arcadia?! The Arcadia?! Are you saying we’re in the abandoned city of Arcadia?!”

“Okay, I’m confused. What the hell is Arcadia?” I asked.

Key turned to me and replied, “A long time ago, before the Dark Lord rose and before the Human Coalition was founded, wars waged amongst the other races. To finally bring peace to the lands, the nobles throughout the continent plotted to create a large city where all races could reside—A utopia, to be precise. After the city was built, it was soon populated by every known race throughout the continent of Gaia.” Then her smile faded into a glower. She continued, “Unfortunately, that all came to an end a week later as series of violence, racial tensions, and cultural discriminations broke out, and soon the city was abandoned and left to decay.”

Looking back at the ruined city, I can understand how it was such a pipedream. Such things like racial tolerance and multiculturalism would take time to be integrated, and to force it would cause certain backlash. It’s the reason why every utopian plan in my world had failed as everyone’s individuality and ideological differences had cause tensions to rise. My face frowned as I took in a deep breath.

“So, this city is the HC’s headquarters?” tilting my head to the side, I was confused as to why they would use such a place as a center.

I turned my attention to Leni and waited for her to respond. She nodded and answered, “Of course. After the Arcadia project faltered years ago, the Human Coalition decided to use the city as a gathering for the representatives of all twelve human kingdoms.”

An ancient city used to hold a powerful continental empire; it was like the city of Rome during its heyday as the capital of the Roman Empire, except it was still decrepit and unpopulated like it was after it’s fall. We then proceeded forward, walking down a mountain trail until we reached the entrance of the city. At first, I was finally happy that all my questions would be answered. However, I started feeling like me and my friends were crossing the Rubicon at this point.